The present invention relates to a protective garment for use during the feeding of infants, invalids, or handicapped persons and more particularly to a bib-bowl product to not only protect the infant, invalid, or handicapped person, but also to return food and liquid being fed to the infant, invalid, or handicapped person to the bowl attached to the bib.
In the course of the feeding of infants, invalids, and handicapped persons portions of food may become deposited on the infant, handicapped person, invalid or their clothes, or on the surface on which the food container and eating utensils are placed for serving purposes. Protective sheet-like garments, generally known as bibs, which depend from the infant's, invalid's, or handicapped person's neck have been utilized to minimize the deposition of food on the infant, invalid, or handicapped person and to simplify clean up after the meal. The soiled bib may be reused after cleaning, or disgarded if economically feasible.
In the confines of the home, the tray or table on which the food container is placed for serving is of known cleanliness, and proper cleaning materials and equipment are available for proper maintenance of clean sanitary conditions. When traveling with infants, invalids, or handicapped persons, it is often found necessary to feed the infant, invalid, or handicapped person in a commercial restaurant where the tables or tray-equipped high-chair may be in an unknown or obviously unsatisfactory state of cleanliness. Under such circumstances, it is also inconvenient or impossible to conduct a thorough cleaning of the tray or table surface prior to use, or clean the infant, invalid, or handicapped person, the bib and the tray or table after the feeding session.
The prior art discloses bib and tray combinations which are disposable or which can be easily cleaned whose sole purpose is to keep the infant, invalid, or handicapped person clean and to keep the surface of the serving area clean when food is spilled by the infant, invalid, or handicapped person. Such prior art are disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. No. 238,521, U.S. Pat. No. 453,490, U.S. Pat. No. 2,672,614, U.S. Pat. No. 2,688,750, U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,199, Australian Pat. No. 1803/26, and a British Pat. No. 1,022,886.
None of the above identified prior art patents and other prior art disclose a structure incorporating a bib and bowl combination where the bowl may be used as a serving vessel and the bib used as a protective garment for the infant, invalid, or handicapped user with the bowl and bib being so combined that the bib is caused to be concave in nature to form a channel configuration so that any liquid or food that is spilled by the user is returned to the bowl so that food is not wasted, nutrition is increased along with reducing stressful feeding sessions, dirty clothes, messy high-chairs and messy kitchen floors or rugs upon which the infant, invalid or handicapped person may be fed or may be feeding themselves.